Moccasin sewing machine



W. A. CRAWFORD MOCCASIN SEWING MACHINE Oct. 8, 1946.

Filed June 14, 1945 Patented Oct. 8, 1946 MOCCASIN SEWING MACHINE William A. Crawford, Mattoon, 111., assignorto United Shoe Machinery Corporation, Flemington, N. .l., a corporation of New Jersey Application June 14, 1945, Serial No. 599,473 2 Claims. (Cl. 112-430) and the side piece or vamp of a moccasin type shoe upper.

An example of a machine which may be employed satisfactorily to sew a moccasin seam of this nature is disclosed in United States Letters Patent No. 1,975,914, granted October 9, 1934, and No. 2,221,320, granted November 12, 1940, both upon application of Fred Ashworth, having a work support provided with re-entrant work engaging surfaces disposed at an angle to each other and extending in the direction of Work feed to hold the parts of the upper in proper relationship during sewing. This type of machine also is employed to advantage in the formation of a moccasin seam for a one-piece shoe upper where the seam is merely for the purpose of ornamentation I and simulation of a true moccasin seam. For sewing a one-piece shoe upper with a moccasin type seam, no substantial changes or additions are required in the machine of the patents referred to, the upper being presented to the machine in such a way that a moccasin seam simulated ridge is raised automatically by the shape of the work supporting and clamping parts and retained permanently by the tension of the stitches inserted.

A one-piece shoe upper being cut from a single sheet of stock necessarily resists conformity to the angularly disposed work engaging surfaces of the work support in this type of machine, par- .ticularly where the seam has its greatest curvature at the toe portion or the upper. When the curved toe portion of the seam is reached in presenting the upper to a machine similar to that of the patents, it is frequently necessary to manipulate the upper and to hold those portions of the upper manually as they enter the reentrant angle of the work support to obtain a smooth, uniform feeding action without puckering effects or tendencies to throw the upper out of the proper path of movement. Manipulating .the upper in this way requires the exercise of special skill on the part of the operator and is more or less difilcult as the stiffness or resiliency in the stock in the upper varies.

The object of the present invention is to avoidthe necessity of manipulating a one-piece upper while presenting it to a machine intended to sew a moccasin seam and provided with a work support having work engaging surfaces disposed to form a ire-entrant angle within which the upper moves during the sewing operations, and generally to improve the construction and mode of operation of a moccasin seam sewing machine. The illustrated form of the machine, constructed to attain this object, comprises a work support having work engaging surfaces disposed with relation to each other and in the direction of work feed to form a re-entrant angle and an internal presser having similarly shaped work engaging surfaces complemental to those of the work support mounted to operate toward and from the Work support to form a permanent moccasin seam simulating ridge or fold, in which machine there is provided a stationary finger engaging the upper along the line of the fold in advance of the point to manipulate the upper or to give specia1 attention aside from properly presenting it to the machine while sewing the curved portion of the seam. In its preferred form, the work support is constructed in two parts and the. deflecting finger is in the form of a plate having its deflecting portion of angular shape extending in advance of and forwardly of the machine with respect to the point of entry for the upper into the angle of the work support.

These and other features of the invention are embodied in the devices, combinations and arrangements of parts hereinafter described and claimed, the advantages of which will readily be understood from the following description taken in connection with the particular drawing, in which Fig. 1 is a view in side elevation looking from the right of so much of a moccasin seam sewing machine as is necessary for an understanding of the features of the present invention;

Fig. 2 is a'detailed view on an enlarged scale of the work support, stitch forming devices and presser of the machine illustrated in Fig. 1, taken during insertion of a moccasin type seam in a one-piece shoe upper;

Fig. 3 is a plan view of the parts illustrated in Fig. 2; and

Fig. 4 is a detailed perspective View of the upper deflecting finger embodying the present invention.

The machine illustrated in the drawings in its construction and mode of operation is similar to that of Patent No. 1,975,914 above referred to and is primarily intended to operate on bevel edged moccasin parts including a top piece or tongue and a vamp or side piece of a shoe upper previously assembled with cement as a temporary connecting agent. The machine is also well adapted in the use of sewing a moccasin seam and one-piece shoe upper indicated in the drawat 5 to raise a permanent U-shaped ridge about the toe of the upper both for ornamental as Well as for structural reinforcing purposes.

To assist in guiding during formation of a moccasin scam in a one-piece shoe upper, it heretofore has been the practice to trace along the grain surface a U-shaped line to be followed in inserting the seam. When particularly heavy stock is employed, the upper is clampedbetween heated dies which form a temporary ridge of the same shape so that less effort is required in bringing the upper in conformity to the angle of the work engaging surfaces of the Work support during sewing. The upper '6, illustrated in the drawing, has been preformed in this'way with a temporary U-shaped ridge 8 and, informing this ridge, the upper is stretched somewhat along its central portion resulting in 'a shape which has 'a tendency to resist the action of the machine while inserting stitches.

The illustrated machine is provided with a curved hook needle ill, a curved work penetrating and feeding awl i2 and other locks't'itch'forming devices of the usual construction and mode of operation. The work is fed through the machine by the movement of the awl while engaging the work toward a position of alinement with the needle and, between feeding movements, the upper is clamped between a worksupport l4 and a presser [5 which is secured to the upper end of a horn is. The cooperating work engaging surfaces 'of the work support and presser extend in the direction of feed and are disposed with relation to each other to form an angle, the surfaces on the 'press'er being complemental to those on the "work support. The work -supporthas two parts with a reentrant-angle between them one of which is already designated by the number N and the other of which, indicated at 15, is'secured to the part M by a pair of spaced screws iii. A continuation of the plane of division between the parts I S and i5 intersects the angle formed by the re-entrant work engaging surfaces thereof.

In presenting a one-piece shoe upper -to the machine, the seam is started at one sid'eof the toe portion ofthe upper where the ridge "6 or other marking line is relatively straight and the sewing "progresses ordinarily without difiiculty until the curved toe end of the sea'mis reached. When the toe end of the seam is reached, substantially half of the seam has been inserted, and the tension of the thread in the *stitches causes the stock along the seam to be drawn together somewhat resulting in an accumulation of fullness along the edge 'of'the upper'in advance of the sewing point. Unless precautions aretaken to hold the edge of the upper in as smoothly curved condition as possible, overlapping folds will be formed and there is a likelihood that a doubled-over section of the upper will be carried into the angle of the work support and sewed in this relationship. Thus a faulty seam may result. Even if stitches are not inserted through a doubled-over portion of the upper, the accumulation of fullness in advance of the sewing point may retard the feed of the work to some extent, thus causing variation in length of stitches and other undesirable results. To avoid these difiiculties, it is ordinarily necessary for the operator, in addition to taking the precautions in guiding the upper along the curved part of the seam, to manipulate the edge of the upper carefully while sewing about its toe portion and, unless the manipulation is carefully performed, an unsightly appearance will be given the completed upper.

To avoid the'necessity of exercising special skill on the part of the operator in addition to the need of guiding a one-piece shoe upper in a machine of this type during insertion of a moccasin type seam and, according to the present invention, the work support I4 is provided with an upper deflecting finger 22 arranged to engage the upper sufficiently inadvance of its point of entry within the angle formed by the work engaging surfaces of the work support, to reduce the fullness at a position remote from the line of the seam through and along the edge of the upper at the toe portion thereof and to bring the upper into general conformity with the angle of the work support. The work engaging end 'of the upper deflecting finger is curved to present a convex surface, thus 'avoiding s'harpedges which might resist the movement of "the upper during feed or cause injury to the finished surface of the upper.

The upper deflecting finger 22 consists of a sheet metal plate with 'a shank disposed at an angle to thefo'rwardly extending upper engaging portion and provided with suitable perforations it so that it may be clamped between the parts ['4 and [5 of "the work support, the screws passing through certain of the perforations. When secured in position, the upper engaging end of the finger extends forwardly an'din ad- Vance of the sewing point in the machine and acts upon'the upper at a position where the g'rea'test fullness in 'the upper naturally occurs while sewing about the curved 'toep'o'r'tihnofthe seam.

In this way, the fullness at the edge of the upper is uniformly reduced about the toe portion, the

upper moving during feed somewhat in the direction of the arrow 26 to redistribute the fullne'ss as the sewing progresses. Once having finished the curved portion'of the scam, the sewing enters a substantially straight portion where the curvature and accumulation of fullness decreases 'a10ng the straight portion of the seam. Therefore, the upper deflecting finger has 'little'or no effect on the sewingoperationsalohg this portion of the seam and does not otherwise interfere with the presentation of the upper to the 0 stitch forming devices.

The nature and scopeof the 'invention having been indicated and aconstruc'tion embodying the invention having been specificall'y'described,what is claimed is:

1. A machine for "sewing a U 'shapedmocc'asin scam in a one-piece shoe upper, having awork support provided with work engaging surfaces disposed with relation to eachother and'eirt'ending in the direction of work feed to form'a re-entrant angle, aninternal presse'r formed with angularly disposed work engaging surfa'ces 'to force the upper into the angle between the work engaging surfaces of the work support, and stitch renning and work feedi ngdevices inol'udiiig 'aheedle 7 moving in a path intersecting the material of the 5 g I 4 upper along that portion within the angle of the work engaging surfaces on the work support and acting progressively along the line of the seam to form a permanent fold in the upper, in combination with a finger engaging the upper along the line of the fold in advance of the point of entry of the upper between the work engaging surfaces of the work support, to deflect a portion of the upper outside the seam line and to bring that portion of the upperinto general conformity with the angle of the work engaging surfaces of the work support as the upper is fed.

2. A machine for sewing a U-shaped moccasin seam in a one-piece shoe upper having a twopart work support formed with work engaging surfaces disposed with relation to each-other and extending in the direction of work feed to form a re-entrant angle, an internal presser formed 6 with angularly disposed work engaging surfaces tofforce the upper into the angle between the work engaging surfaces on the work support, and stitch forming and work feeding devices including a needle moving in a path intersecting the material of the upper along that portion within the angle of the work engaging surfaces on the work support and acting progressively along the line of the seam to form a permanent fold in the upper, in combination with an angular plate with its-shank secured between the parts of the work support and with a finger portion projecting to a position in advance of the point of entry of the upper within the angle of the work support for deflecting a portion of the upper outside the seam line to bring it into general conformity with the angle of the work support as the upper is fed.

WILLIAM A. CRAWFORD. 

